Because of their enormity, it can be difficult to understand mentally important financial metrics in an age of “unicorn” companies, which are private companies with billion-dollar valuations, and even trillion-dollar companies. Worldwide corporate profits are definitely one such metric, with many companies clearing hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
- Just one hour or less, 70 companies around the world gain more than $1 million in profits.
- Globally, it is anticipated that the corporate profit pool will fall from 10 percent today to 8 percent in 2025.
- Corporate profits in the United States remain below their high in 2014.
- In the face of attacks on its facilities, Saudi Aramco, the most profitable company in the world, is considering an IPO in 2020.
Top 10 Most Profitable Companies on Earth
1. Saudi Aramco
$304.04 M daily
Earns $1 M in 4.7 minutes
2. Apple
$163.1 M daily
Earns $1 M in 8.8 minutes
3. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China
$123.29 M daily
Earns $1M in 11.7 minutes
4. Samsung Electronics
$109.3 M daily
Earns $1 M in 13.2 minutes
5. China Construction Bank
$105.48 M daily
Earns $1 M in 13.7 minutes
6. JPMorgan Chase & Co.
$88.97 M daily
Earns $1 M in 16.2 minutes
7. Alphabet Inc.
$84.21 M daily
Earns $1 M in 17.1 minutes
8. Agricultural Bank of China
$83.99 M daily
Earns $1 M in 17.1 minutes
9. Bank of America Corp.
$77.12 M daily
Earns $1 M in 18.7 minutes
10. Bank of China
$74.59 M daily
Earns $1 M in 19.3 minutes
To standardize the analysis of the world’s biggest corporate earnings, howmuch.net also calculated how long it takes each of the ten most profitable companies worldwide to earn $1 million in profits. It’s well under half an hour for each — by the time you’ve finished reading this article, you can count on tens of thousands more.
Most of the top ten work in either the finance or engineering sectors, based in the U.S. or Asia (China).
The only exception is that of Saudi Aramco. The Saudi national Energy Corporation is the earth’s most profitable, almost doubling Apple’s second-place. In 2020, Saudi Aramco will be public and will float up to 10% of the company. This is planned in the face, among other countries, of recent attacks on its oil facilities and increasing tensions between Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the United States.
The Asian companies on the list were state-owned Chinese banks, with the exception of Samsung.
Chinese banks are hesitant to lend in the midst of the trade war with the United States. In addition, China’s central bank has left interest rates unchanged in the face of worldwide declining rates. Such policies will have mixed effects on these so-called “Big Four” Chinese banks ‘ profitability.
Also among the most successful are tech companies, and smartphones are crucial to two of the ten. Apple can lose margins on phones as consumers lean to lower-cost models. Samsung is re-launching its $2,000 premium foldable phone to combat this industry trend.
